


Lean on Me

by Mareel



Series: Always [23]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Destroy Ending, Fluff, Injury Recovery, M/M, POV Inanimate Object, Post-Canon, Post-Mass Effect 1, Romance, Vignette, Vulnerability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-08 23:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4324116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mareel/pseuds/Mareel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>We all need somebody to lean on.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lean on Me

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place at Kaidan's London flat, approximately seven months after the end of the Reaper War. The title and summary are from "Lean on Me" - Bill Withers
> 
> This differs from the other stories in this series in that the narrator is an inanimate object. It was written in response to a challenge.

 

Commander Shepard has had turbulent relationships with my predecessors.

His flat in London is littered with those cast-offs and their remains. Hospital-issued canes – dull metallic sticks with no character – are utilitarian reminders of his weakness. A wooden walking stick with a carved handle, perhaps a gift from a well-wisher, rests in pieces in a corner, snapped in a moment of frustration with the leg that failed him. 

"John, are you packed for Vancouver?"

"Yes, ready when you are."

The dark-haired man who asks takes a look around the flat and notices me propped beside the nightstand. 

"You should bring the cane. We'll be doing a lot of walking around Vancouver and even more when we go out to my parents' orchard."

Shepard turns to his partner and starts to say something, but breaks it off as amber eyes catch his gaze and hold it. 

"I know you don't need it much, John, but it's good to have along in case we misjudge our distances or the terrain gets rough."

He pauses, picking me up, running his fingertips along my curved handgrip - custom cast in a resin the color of those amber eyes. "I thought you'd like this one better, since it was made to fit your hand... and it doesn't look like medical equipment."

Shepard looks away, chewing at his lower lip, before crossing the short distance to his lover. Hooking an arm around Kaidan's neck, he kisses him lightly and reaches for me with his good hand. It's a perfect fit and the resin quickly matches his body temperature.

"You're right, Kaidan. I'm grateful for the gift. I just hate needing it, you know?"

"I know. We'll both be glad when you don't. I just wanted you to have something that might make you think about me when you use it... you could go on walks without me and I wouldn't worry. Too much."

Shepard nods, thumbing the small indentation on the grip that collapses me into what resembles a small tool or weapon that he can clip to his belt. 

"I don't know. This hip might never be right. I don't want more surgery though." He reaches for Kaidan's face with both hands, searching his eyes again. "I appreciate the thought, and I get why you want me to have it. But know this, Alenko. I'd rather lean on your arm to get me over the rough spots than any damn cane in the galaxy. I trust _you_."

They kiss for what seems like a long time before Shepard speaks again, so softly that it's hard to catch the words.

"You've always been my strength."

__________________________________________________


End file.
